In February 1692 a company of the Earl of Arygll's regiment was quartered on the Macdonalds of Glencoe. For a week all was friendly but the Macdonalds, strongly Jacobite, were considered to be a threat to the government. Early in the morning of 13 February the soldiers, commanded by Captain Campbell and acting on secret orders, fell on their hosts and slaughtered them on the desolate snow-covered hillsides of Glencoe. For his part in this massacre, the name of Campbell of Glenlyon has become a by-word for treachery. This portrait of a rather nervous-looking young man, with a halo of bright hair, was painted several decades before this notorious event.

Jacobite

Jacobitism was a movement to restore the descendants of the Stuart King James VII and II to the British throne. The first claimant, Prince James Francis Edward (known as 'the Old Pretender') was exiled first in France, then Italy, from where he planned unsuccessful attempts to claim the throne. His son Prince Charles Edward (known as 'Bonnie Prince Charlie' or 'the Young Pretender') famously invaded Britain in 1745, but after some military successes was finally defeated at Culloden in 1746.

Jacobite

Details

Acc. No.PG 995

MediumOil on canvas

Size76.20 x 63.10 cm (framed: 89.50 x 80.00 x 5.50 cm)

CreditPurchased 1925

David Scougall (Scottish, active 1661 - 1677)

David Scougall may have studied with John Michael Wright, whose work he certainly copied, but very little is known about this portrait painter aside from the works signed by or attributed to him and a few surviving accounts. His clients included some of the most powerful people in Scotland, for example, Archibald Campbell, Marquis of Argyll, whose daughter Scougal also painted in 1654. His son or nephew, John Scougal, was also a portrait painter and some of his early works may have been confused with those of the older artist.